The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Although the demons claimed victory, unlike Linde's desk which was piled high with letters and official documents, and which was already considering putting the secretariat on the agenda, Antipa's desk was much emptier.

However, it wasn't that there were no letters at all; one of them was sent by a demon who was still in the capital doing "legitimate business."

The new Queen of Capet did not like the demons, but the demons still had to rely on Monroe's connections to leave some people to work in the central region of the Capet Kingdom.

It was through these people that Antipas conveyed the wrong message to Monroe, hoping that the king would react as quickly as before, nominally ceding some regions to the demons in order to achieve a so-called balance.

Although the demons are not capable of actually occupying these areas, they can at least annoy Lind and create the illusion of a real victory within the demon race.

Unfortunately, while the capital city was indeed full of good-for-nothings, it wasn't corrupt to that extent. And although Capet's intelligence department was a complete mess, Anjou's intelligence department was still very reliable.

Although it may be hurtful to say this, Capel's attempt to steal information from Anjou might be more reliable than the information obtained by his own intelligence department.

However, Monroe was not the only ally of the demons in the capital. There was another ally who surprised Antipas.

Besides the letters from Monroe questioning him, there were also letters from Claire sent through secret channels on the table.

The letter used a pseudonym, and her true identity was known only to Antipa and some high-ranking demons. Even if Monroe was exposed, Claire would not be. Claire was extremely careful in communicating with the demons.

Antipa's mood didn't improve much after reading Claire's letter, but he seriously considered the suggestions in it.

Claire's point of view is simple: why would the demons fight to the death with the North? Compared to the demons' eternal tundra, the North is indeed much richer, but it is certainly not the richest land in the kingdom.

Its only advantage is probably its abundant mineral resources and vast territory, but compared to the permafrost, the winters in the North are not actually much warmer.

In contrast, the Eastern Territory is also very close to the Demon Realm and is much richer.

The Demon Race's deadly conflict with the Northern Territory stems not only from their desire to escape the Eternal Frozen Lands, which are conveniently located on their doorstep, but also, and perhaps more importantly, from their deep-seated grudge against the Lars family. It was the Lars family who pushed the Demon Race into the Eternal Frozen Lands, which is why the Demon Race has always coveted their lands.

But is the land of the North really worth the demons' expending so much effort to fight it? Although the technology of the gray-collar workers is tempting, Antipa is also aware of the demons' capabilities. Demons who can only use bloodline magic are probably unable to understand human technology. In the end, they will still be able to develop by enslaving humans, which is too easy to backfire.

The Northern Territory is still very fragrant, but it's too hard and might hurt your teeth.

Regardless of how the Eastern Territory's defenses compare to those of the Northern Territory, or how fertile its lands are, Monroe himself had already been thoroughly misled by the Daedric race.

Although the demon gods' offspring were wiped out one by one by the Northern Territory on the battlefield of the Golden Harvest Plains, it was not that the demon gods' offspring were not strong enough. If the chosen demon gods' offspring were placed in other small countries, they would really have the ability to destroy the country, and taking over parts of the Eastern Territory would be a piece of cake.

Claire's advice was simple: use the already occupied Surd and other regions to attack the Eastern Territory. With the Eastern Territory in hand, all the places in the Northern Territory, including Surd, would become useless and could be given to the Northern Territory. The demons only needed to leave one route to the Eternal Frozen Land.

This is essentially an exchange of interests. The demons are using the areas they have already occupied to exchange for parts of the Eastern Territory. Since they are not attacking the Northern Territory, the Northern Territory is unlikely to react positively and will most likely try to reclaim the lost territory.

The final result was that the North easily reclaimed the territory occupied by the demons, while the demons successfully took over the East, and the two sides were even able to improve their relations.

As for turning against allies, it's as normal for the demons as drinking the northwest wind. Moreover, the demons of the Eastern Territory are well aware of this, and many demons trade with humans in the Eastern Territory. The Eastern Territory simply has no power to resist the demons.

The question of whether or not we can take the Eastern Territory is simply not the issue; the real question is how much we can ultimately take.

Antipas gave a cold laugh and put the letter back on the table.

Although they only talked about the demons, the North, and the East, no one would believe Claire didn't have her own ulterior motives in this plan.

The North has effectively severed ties with the Kingdom, and the Kingdom will not interfere even if the fighting is raging. However, the East is still the Kingdom's territory, both in name and in reality, and it is also Her Majesty the Queen's hometown. What will happen if Her Majesty the Queen cannot even defend her own hometown?

At that time, the North will be busy reclaiming its own territory and will have no time to heed the Queen's pleas for help. If Anjou were to launch another attack on Cape's southwestern border at this time, the entire kingdom would be engulfed in war.

All three borders are at war, and the Northern Border, which has effectively broken away from the Kingdom's control, is also reclaiming its lost territories, leaving it with neither the time nor the energy to help the capital.

When Antipa used Cordick as a pawn, he was already well aware of the dirty nature of human politics. The demons' population was small, so they certainly couldn't control the entire Eastern Territory. Anjou would most likely engage in similar exchanges of interests. Both the demons and Anjou could become actors for Claire.

Even if Anjou doesn't launch an attack, the war in the Eastern Territory alone would probably be enough to give that queen a hard time. At that time, Claire wouldn't even need to do much. She just needs to come and say a few words to Antipas, and she would be portrayed as a princess who bravely negotiated with the demons for the sake of the kingdom's people and finally persuaded them to stop.

Then, if they casually stir up public opinion, it's no wonder what will happen.

Antipa sneered. This princess was truly a traitor. Even if the above schemes were Antipa's own deductions and imaginations from Claire's perspective and not necessarily Claire's true thoughts, the mere act of instigating the demons to attack his own kingdom's land was already extremely malicious.

However, it must be said that this princess was indeed very talented and clever in manipulating politics, because Antipas was just following Claire's plan and the result was almost satisfactory to everyone.

The demons gained new, rich territories, the northern borders reclaimed lost lands, and Anjou was able to seize some of the southwestern borderland. The people of the Cape Kingdom gained a hero who turned the tide.

The only ones who were injured were probably the current Queen and Monroe.

But will things really go as smoothly as Claire thinks? Antipas thought the princess was being too presumptuous. Not only humans, but all races have endless desires. Even cats will continue to tease mice after they've eaten their fill, and demons are no exception.

Antipas believed that Claire's own plan would be more meticulous and better balance the various forces. However, sometimes satisfying the interests of one party does not necessarily mean that the other party will act according to your plan. Not everyone will obediently cooperate with the execution of the plan. Perhaps it was because Claire had not received the education of Augustine III's successor that she came up with such an unconventional idea.

A conspiracy with one plot after another is the easiest to backfire.

However, Antipa did not intend to remind Claire. Instead, he wrote back that the demons still needed to recuperate and were not yet capable of launching an attack. As for Claire's true schemes, he told her to prepare them slowly during this time.